Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner and a columnist for the New York Times, Morningstar magazine and Yahoo Finance. He is author of 2 books, The Behavior Gap & The One-Page Financial Plan. Carl lives with his family in Park City, Utah. You can find his work and sign up for his newsletter (which has an international audience) at www.behaviorgap.com/
Do you remember playing pretend when you were little? Maybe you were a superhero, a dinosaur or a princess. It’s normal when you’re little, and it’s usually harmless. Most children know the difference between pretending to be a superhero and jumping off the roof thinking they can fly. But adults often forget. For instance, we…
I read somewhere that average Americans will spend more time planning their vacation to Disneyland than they will planning their financial future. I’m not sure that’s correct, but it wouldn’t surprise me. There are a number of reasons why we are hesitant to spend time planning for our financial future, but the biggest one is…
Finding time is hard. I often think about all the things I would do if I could just find the time. But really, what a crazy thing that is to say. Find the time? Where should I look? Did I hide it in the bushes outside the White House? Can I find it on Aisle…
There are two types of experts in the world: real experts, and fake ones. The real experts are the people who spend many years refining their knowledge and skill set in a particular area and becoming masters of pattern recognition. But all too often, they end up toiling away in relative obscurity and poverty, neither…
A while back my wife and I hired a financial planner. It was a big change to sit on the other side of the desk and see the process from the client’s perspective. I received some interesting reactions when I told people. The most common one was: Why does a Certified Financial Planner need to…
Did you read, listen, or watch the news in the last year? But they shouldn’t. Because — repeat after me — you can’t do anything about any of them. Go on a media fast These events, and others like them, are completely out of our individual control. However, that won’t stop the 24/7 news channels…
Today, I want to talk to you about your worries. After all, who doesn’t love worrying? Thousands of years ago, it was part of what kept humans alive. Is that a lion in the bushes? Was that a tiger? Nine times out of ten, there probably was no large-toothed animal about to pounce. But worrying…
I’m going to assume for a minute that you’re one of the millions of people who have a recurrently frustrating relationship with spending. It probably starts with a commitment to sticking to your budget, and you do for a few days. Then, despite your resolve, you break down, pull out the credit card and do…
For the next few minutes, I want you to focus on the most successful person you know (and yes, it may be you). What makes this individual successful in your mind? Professional accomplishments? Personal wealth? Now, I want you to think of the happiest person you know. Did you come up with the same name?…
I received these two messages within three minutes of each other recently: Several years back I used to mine Bitcoin, and then I sold most of them off for a down payment for our house. I had 400 BTC at one point, which would be worth $14 million today. Needless to say, I am really…
